A new estate agency has opened in Brighton and Hove – specifically to put ‘pop up’ businesses and workshops into empty shops and offices.

Fashionable ‘pop up’ shops – which take over empty premises for a few days – will now have help from We Are Pop Up.

The group won a Brighton and Hove City Council contract to run the project.

Co-founder Mike Salter said: “It’s great to get the chance to spread our wings and Brighton and Hove have been so welcoming and supportive.

“We can’t wait to get stuck in and be helpful in supporting the community in a meaningful way.”

The project aims to put people with empty shops in touch with emerging digital and creative sector organisations, freelancers and undergraduate and postgraduate students, who need space.

Negotiations are under way with ten empty spaces.

Tenants seeking to move into them will pay a monthly, weekly or daily rate on leasing the properties.
 

Mr Salter said: “We’re now in the process of taking applicants and matchmaking them with the ideal locations.

"It works a little bit like a dating agency and once everything has been finalised over the next few months we will know more about charges and the finer details.”

As well as the pop-up initiative, ReCreate, a European-funded 16- partner project, has enabled the council to fund refurbishment of a previously empty 3,500 sq ft unit in New England House, near Brighton station.

This space has been transformed into an arts and creative industries innovation hub, The FuseBox.

The council’s Economic Devel- opment team and Wired Sussex want the workspace to help to encourage business ideas from emerging arts and creative industry organisations, as well as encourage freelancers and university students to flourish.